The Cleveland Cavaliers narrowly lost Game 1 of the Golden State Warriors finals. The guests from Ohio did many things right, but in the final phase they threw away the possible victory and an epic performance by LeBron James. Will the Cavs get another chance like this in this series?
What wasn’t the point before the fourth edition between the Warriors and the Cavs that the NBA and their fans have a boring series in store? Even the biggest disparity in the history of the finals was mentioned due to the seemingly oppressive superiority of the Champs from the Bay Area. Game 1 proved otherwise.
The Cavs were 32 seconds in front after a drive by LeBron James with 106:104. In Oakland, in the Oracle Arena, where Cleveland had not won since Game 7 of the 2016 finals and had been shot out of the hall with an average of 18.4 points.
In the end the Cavs lost again with 10 points, this time after extra time, but that didn’t tell the story of this hard-fought game. At the end of the regular season, small things decided – and they were all in favour of the Warriors, as Cleveland made crucial mistakes and thus basically threw victory away.
Kevin Love gave an And-One against Stephen Curry, George Hill (80 percent off the line) hit only one of his two free throws and J.R. Smith did things only he can do. For example, at the end of the first half, Smith’s Gamble allowed for a deep curry threesome, which people almost forgot later on. The dribbling out of the watch shortly before the end was simply so surreal that it will be remembered in ten years’ time and beyond.
“We have to forget that and leave it behind us,” LeBron James didn’t want to admit any great criticism of his teammate. “This game is over. We’ve had our chances, but I’ll never give up one of my teammates. I don’t do that.”
If that were the case, no one would blame him. Due to Smith’s action, one has to assume that he actually thought the Cavs would lead – even if he vehemently denied it after the game.
In extra time nothing went for Cleveland anymore, the will seemed to be broken after these individual dropouts. “You could see it in their faces,” said ESPN expert Paul Pierce. “You could also see LeBron. “After it went into overtime, they had nothing more to oppose.”
After 49 points in four quarters, only two points were added for LeBron in extra time, the king lacked strength to pull to the basket, instead he took jumpers, which all did not find the target (0/4 FG). The Warriors got away with the horror and defended their home court.
Was this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Cleveland missed? It is quite possible, because many things played into the cards of the Cavs. Of course, there was the monster performance of James, who only needed 13 field goal attempts for 31 points in the meantime. It became apparent that the Warriors lacked Andre Iguodala, who can’t stop LeBron either, but can make him work harder for his points than Durant, for example, did for most of the game.
It was also James who faced the threatening storm of the Warriors in their cream district, the third, with 12 points. The Dubs started with a 10-3 run and Cleveland faced a similar fate to the Rockets several times before, but James responded with deep threes and kept his team within striking distance.
“That was fantastic, just epic,” said Coach Ty Lue after the game about the superstar’s performance. “That’s why he’s the best player in the world and he’s been doing it for us all year. It’s just not right that we lost today after everything he’s done for us today.”
But despite 51 points and 8 assists from James, it wasn’t just a one-man show for the guests. Another advantage was the good work under the boards, even though some transition points of the dubs were accepted (28). Cleveland took 19 offensive rebounds to secure more posessions and kept turning the clock. The Cavs must dictate the pace of this series to have a chance. In game 1 this worked very well over long distances (pace: 92.59).
This was also favored by Steve Kerr trying out four centers (Looney, Bell, West, McGee) because all presented light and shadow. It can be assumed that the dubs will increasingly use smaller lineups with Shaun Livingston or Iguodala (if fit) in the upcoming games. Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance showed that they can also stand their ground against smaller opponents.
Nance in particular provided his colors with a lot of energy and valuable minutes and should also play an important role in Game 2. The son of the Cavs legend distinguished himself with 9 points and 11 rebounds with 3 deflections and secured four Loose Balls for Cleveland.
In general, it was more than okay, which Cleveland showed for at least 48 minutes at the defensive end. Although the Warriors hit just over half of their litters, Golden State never really seemed to find its rhythm, with the exception of Stephen Curry.
Especially Durant was approached aggressively after the Rockets and held in 27 shooting posessions with only 26 points. Jeff Green, who took over the lion’s share of the defence alongside James, deserves special mention. KD, who only hit one throw outside the zone in the entire game, was held in a direct duel by Green at just 4 points (1/7 FG).
Green forced some bad rolls from Durant, especially from a distance (1/7 trio), where the final MVP of 2017 was mostly quite cold in these playoffs. Especially in the final phase, the game was more likely to pass him.
It’s things that should give Cleveland hope, considering that KD made the difference last year and scored at least 31 points in all five games. On the other hand, Durant will not throw the entire 8/22 series out of the field, but he simply has too much quality. It’s quite possible that Cleveland has left a unique chance to make the series truly open.
Because where is there still room for manoeuvre upwards? Of course, the otherwise good Kevin Love had problems from downtown (1/8 trio) and the Cavs only shot a disappointing 27 percent from the distance as a team. Also 17 minutes of Jordan Clarkson, who played terribly, should be deleted. But the rebound work – 58.2 percent of all rebounders landed in the hands of the Cavs – and 51 points (19/32 FG) from LeBron just can’t be planned every day.
With Iguodala, the Dubs also have another ace up their sleeve, while Cleveland drew virtually blank and pretty much ticked off the gameplan’s complete checklist. “We played our best game in the playoffs today,” LeBron said. “Only a few little things made the difference.”
The Cavs were at eye level, but it is the never-ending story of this season that the Lue team torpedoes itself again and again with mental misfires. Against a historically good team such a thing is punished – this lesson was given to the Cavs of Golden State once again.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login